<p class="text2">Pakse or Pakxe ( "Mouth of the river Se") is the capital and most populous city in the southern province of Champasak and therefore making it the third most populous city in Laos. <br /><br />It has a population of about 80,000, situated at the confluence of the Xe Don and Mekong Rivers. It also served as the capital of the Kingdom of Champasak until it was unified with the rest of Laos in 1946.</p>
<p class="text2">This city was founded by the French as an administrative outpost in 1905, and was formerly the capital of the Lao Kingdom of Champasak until its abolishment in 1946 when the Kingdom of Laos was formed. <br /><br />The city served as the primary seat and residence to Prince Boun Oum Na Champassak, an important figure in the Laotian Civil War. He built Champasak Palace but fled in 1974 before it was completed. In May 1975, it fell to Pathet Lao forces. Since 1975, Pakse has become an economic power and of regional importance within the region and the construction of a bridge over the Mekong (built with Japanese aid), allowing road traffic with Ubon Ratchathani in Thailand, has further integrated the city with neighbouring countries.<br /><br /><img style="float: left;" src="http://arasa-tour-laos.com/documents/Champasak_Palace.jpg" alt="pakse" width="400" height="300" /><img style="float: right;" src="http://arasa-tour-laos.com/documents/PakseBridge.jpg" alt="pakse" width="400" height="300" /></p>